Opening this year’s Busan Film Festival, Cold War is a refreshing Hong Kong crime thriller that provides enough enjoyment that should help secure a wider-audience, but suffers from an overly convoluted plot.

The film’s appeal is further expanded owing to the film’s local stars: Tony Leung Ka-fai (2005’s Election) and Aaron Kwok (Divergence, 2005), which should help drive sales across the Asian region and possibly further afield, but neither is able to deliver the necessary performances to make them stand out.

The film follows two Deputy Chiefs, Lau and Lee who are both seeking the top position on the Hong Kong police force. After five police officers are taken hostage, it’s left to Lau and Lee to solve the case, but they both have different approaches, which ultimately leads to failure. What ensures is a realization that they have become pawns in a more treacherous game.

After building a strong reputation for their contributions on a number of films, debut directors Longman Leung (credits include Vengeance, 2009) and Sunny Luk (who worked as an assistant director on 2006 film Isabella 2006) are keen to exploit their visual talents, which is evident throughout the duration. The film includes a number of well-executed set-pieces, but lacks a fine polish in places due to some rather poor CGI. Nevertheless, its strong and vibrant aesthetic does make up for some of the film’s flaws.

Produced by internationally renowned Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), it has real potential to perform well in Asian markets, but its sloppy storytelling may hinder its success in some other territories.

Based on the novel of the same name, the film will tell the legendary story about a hero named Yang Zirong who outwits a group of gangsters in northeastern China in 1946. Yu said he expected famous actor/director Jiang Wen to play the lead role.

Lu told the media the movie was inspirited by the classic American film “The Graduate” starring Dustin Hoffman. It revolves around a young woman who must decide between two men before marrying one of them.

The Most Popular Actor and Actress awards went to Wen Zhang and Yan Ni. Gu Changwei clinched the award for Best Director for feature film, “Love For Life”. The coveted Best Film award was bagged by low-budget film, “Mr. Tree”.

The movie is not a sequel to “Let the Bullets Fly”, as previous rumors had suggested. It has been said that Jiang’s latest project will have more female roles compared to his action comedy hit of 2010.

However, there will be obvious similarities in style, as Ma confirmed that, “The first draft has been written by Guo Junli, one of the main screenwriters for ‘Let the Bullets Fly.”

Francis Ng

Koni Lui, Francis Ng

Appearing at a shoe brand event in Sha Tin, Francis Ng revealed that he has joined the cast of “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai”/”The Last Tycoon” starring Chow Yun-Fat. TVB has accommodated him by delaying the start of filming the series Triumph in the Skies 2. (Sina-gallery)

The Showbox-backed Mr Go is the story of a Chinese girl and her baseball playing gorilla, who is recruited to play in the professional leagues in Korea. It features young Chinese actress Josie XU (Xu Jiao), who started her career in CJ7 (2008) and recently headlined in Starry Starry Night.

Miriam Yeung, said, “I am about to give birth, and this will be my last movie before I do so. Of course it’s better to go to the movies than staring at the monitor at home. Watching a movie with friends and popcorn is much better. I have many single friends who immediately have dates after watching this movie, you have to believe it.”

She added smilingly, “If you go a few more times I guarantee you will be a parent!”

Taiwanese singer Wang Lee-hom is believed to have invited Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Chinese American girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, to his concert at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing last Saturday night

Last December, when the Hong Kong paparazzi alleged that actor Simon Yam had a night of illicit sex with an unknown girl in a hotel in Hangzhou, China, ex-supermodel Qiqi rubbished the reports immediately.

Li shared that they are still in the midst of ironing out the final details for Faye and their daughter Dou Jingtong’s (otherwise known as Tong Tong) first collaboration as voiceovers for the Chinese version of Mamma Mia!.

Point Of Entry” revolves around the action-filled cases taken on by an elite team of Immigration And Checkpoints Authority (ICA) special agents who protect Singapore’s borders from smuggling and illegal immigration.

The son of Hong Kong comedian Richard Ng, Carl bears the constant burden of carving out a career outside of his famous father’s shadow.

The Taiwan film “When Love Comes,” directed by Chang Tso-chi, stands out in the film list with 14 nominations, including Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best New Performer, and Best Original Screenplay to name a few.

Parodies of such popular films as “The Message” (”Feng Sheng”), “God of Gamblers” (”Du Shen”) and “The Eagle Shooting Heroes” (”Dong Cheng Xi Jiu”) have been publicized as the selling points of the film.

Veronica Yip, visiting her mother in Hong Kong, supported models Chrissie Chau and Angelababy and said Anthony Wong was a bit extreme. Veronica and family have been flying on her husband’s private jet are heading next to Vietnam. (Xinhua)

“Lan” is a heart-felt drama about a young girl named Lan, who lives with her grandfather and dreams of becoming a gymnast. Jiang has said the film is a tribute to her childhood and her late grandfather.

In the Yao Po attack case, actress Li Xiaoran implies in her blog that the 10 arrestees are not the true culprits.

“I only want the murderers arrested as soon as possible! Evil with evil, if not reported, I will hold you in hell had used a knife waiting for you! Remember, my gravestone will be covered with flowers, and your tombstone will be stained with people revile your saliva! Remember!” A friend of Li Xiaoran said the actress is living in fear and hiding the whereabouts of her location. The friend posted photos of her dining out but the next afternoon another friend of Li phoned on her behalf and asked her to delete the name of the restaurant for fear of being tracked. So she deleted the photos and the complete post entry. (Xinhua)

Edison’s family and friends helped open a new Causeway Bay shop to mark the 6th anniversary of his CLOT brand. Earlier in the week, (Edison’s parents are divorced) his father brought a male friend resembling Frankie Lam to a family lunch feeding longstanding speculation about his sexuality. Edison described him as an old family friend while the press characterized him as a ‘boyfriend’. I’m just saying…

Longtime girlfriend Vincy Yeung was absent, Edison explained that she was overseas but lending spiritual support.

Li Xiaoran returned to Beijing yesterday afternoon and wrote that director Yan Po had regained consciousness after surgery for his wounds. Posting on her blog, she thanked Lu Chuan, Yao Chen, Zhang Yang, Liu Ye, Chen Kun, Gao Yuanyuan and others for their support. (Xinhua), (Sina)

“Young Chinese directors are very lucky now,” said hit-making producer Bill Kong (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), mentor to many a young director and backer of a few of the biggest Chinese films ever to sell overseas. “You can rest assured that there will always be a market at home that is highly diversified.”

Behind the Shanghai scenes: Donnie Yen vs Jet Li? It’s being reported that Donnie Yen’s earlier press conference for Fist of Legend was cancelled to accommodate Jet Li and the Ocean Heaven press conference. Both sides’ reps denied it, saying it was the work of the organizing committee. Jet’s peeps defended him saying how could he be jealous of Donnie Yen and also reminded the press of his charitable works. Perhaps it was a case of resentment. In 2007, the two refused to appear together in a ‘Kung Fu Stars’ program. Later, Donnie Yen had criticized Jet Li’s Fearless at Beijing University and one implied that the other was a ‘clown’ [unclear which was which]. (Xinhua)

He Ping’s Wheat accused of plagiarising The Robbers/Tang Dynasty Brothers. He Ping was chairman of the jury at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival when The Robbers was awarded as having the most market potential. He Ping and director Yang Peng had discussed the script, Bitter Bamboo Grove, at the time. (Sina)

It’s been a long time between drinks for Singapore helmer Glen Goei, whose 1999 debut pic, “Forever Fever,” a contagious local riff on “Saturday Night Fever,” promised to expand the island republic’s filmmaking horizons beyond local comedies and festival navel-gazers.

Though the least “Hong Kong” of the series — with the usual local in-jokes and linguistic wordplay virtually absent — this is the most marketable of the four to date, as well as a timely commentary on the onetime Brit colony’s cultural relationship with the mainland.

An unusual Chinese police drama, to say the least. A Harbin cop is forced — and able — to defuse a time bomb thanks to his engineering background, only to find that more and more explosives are being planted in the area, and his superiors want him to keep doing the dirty work. Is Dennis Hopper on the loose? Ma Guowei (馬國偉) plays “Old Fish,” the put-upon policeman, in an award-winning turn. Directed by Gao Qunshu (高群書), who co-directed The Message (風聲), which is currently on release.

Plastic City (蕩寇)

A Chinese crook (Anthony Wong, 黃秋生) and his cooler-than-cool adopted Japanese son struggle to keep their enterprise afloat in Sao Paulo, Brazil, when rivals and the authorities turn on them, including a Taiwanese entrepreneur. Critics said the fascinating idea behind the film and its visual distinctiveness were undercut by avoidable technical problems (dubbing, for starters) and a stereotypically art house divergence from coherent narrative — not to mention stylistic lapses that verge on the silly.

Vengeance (復仇)

Johnnie To (杜琪峰) is a Hong Kong director who has kept pumping out solid action flicks over the years. He probably doesn’t have as much international exposure as he should, but this film may help to change that. The lead actor is legendary French singer Johnny Hallyday, who arrives in Macau after his daughter is nearly killed in a triad hit (the rest of her family is wiped out). Hallyday, now a chef, must draw on his unsavory past to accomplish his vengeful mission — but that past is disappearing as an old injury accelerates his amnesia. Co-stars include the formidable Anthony Wong (黃秋生) as a criminal (again) and Simon Yam (任達華) as a triad boss.

US and European buyers were scarce at both events. “There were some US companies in Tokyo but they were looking for remake material, not doing acquisitions,” says Tadayuki Okubo of Japanese studio Toei.